a blog supplementing the Images of America book from Arcadia Publishing

Pages

Downtown 1958

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Winnebago Rapids

from: Wisconsin: Its Geography, and Topography, History, Geology, and Mineralogy, Increase Allen Lapham; Milwaukee: I.A. Hopkins, pub (1846)I've always been fascinated with the early, early days of Menasha. You can find many refences to Menasha's early days on this blog and in my book. Nothing highlights the infancy of the town more to me than this passage from the referenced Lapham history above that describes the raw, turbulent river from which so much manufacturing and commerce depended on. That the river later became the Fox, rather than remaining known as the Neenah still amuses me. Garlic Island, as mentioned here, lies north of current day Oshkosh and the reference to Clifton...well, that's better known today as High Cliff.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and be sent notification of new posts

About David Galassie

Links

About the book

Menasha was carved from the northeastern Wisconsin wilderness in the late 1840s. At the confluence of the Fox River and Lake Winnebago, the town’s early entrepreneurs and industrialists sought the promise of waterpower to fuel their mills and kick-start the engine of commerce. Taming the Fox with dams, canals, and a lock, Menasha initially made its mark with flour mills and lumber-based industry. At one time, the city was home to the largest manufacturer of wood-turned products in the world. In the late 19th century, however, the tides of change once again washed upon the city and industrial focus shifted to the paper industry. What made Menasha great were dependable waterpower, plentiful rail connections to centers of commerce in Milwaukee and Chicago, and a prolific labor force that coincided with an influx of European immigrants.